Quick Shot: It's Electric!

Before I explain how I got this photo, let me explain what you're seeing.... this is a long exposure of some waves up against some river rocks on shore; the psycho effect in the photograph comes from the waves each leaving a unique "ripple" in the water. 

I took this photo along the banks of Difficult Run, which is next to Great Falls National Park. As seen in the Quick Shot from earlier this week, I was playing with a neutral density filter, which is a dark piece of plastic that I hold in front of the camera to get a longer exposure. In the course of taking landscapes, I decided to experiment with the edge of the river to see if I could get an interesting effect when I photographed the little waves.

The rocks in the bottom of the photo are those that were on "dry land" and where the water wasn't touching, which is why they are nice and sharp (not fuzzy). Although seeing the water line is tricky, you can see where the rocks start to look fuzzy, because the water was moving over them during the exposure. What looks like a bunch of lightening bolts are actually the waves coming into the shore.

To help explain the Quick Shot, check out the bottom photo, which was taken by my friend Tim while I took this image.